Communication Skills II

 

  1. Course Title: SC 101- COMMUNICATION SKILLS II
  2. Course Aim

The overall aim of this course is to provide an opportunity for students to learn communication techniques and practice them in real life settings. It aims to allow students to have a comprehensive understanding of the four language skills -namely listening, speaking, reading and writing – and apply them appropriately in their own specific situations.

  • Course Expected Course Outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

  • Develop critical thinking skills through analyzing a problem in their discipline, evaluating sources, and creating a solution
  • Develop academic literacy skills to read and write in an academic manner about content in their discipline in various academic forms
  • Produce different forms of academic writing including term paper, paragraphs of various types, literature review, resource list, abstract, and essay question response
  • Listen to lectures and discussions about content in their academic discipline and take notes effectively
  • Speak in an academic manner (presentations, discussions, debates) about content in their academic discipline
  • Read and comprehend content in their academic discipline using strategies such as skimming, scanning, SQ4R, affix awareness

 

iv.            Course Status:

Core

  

v.            Credit Rating:

7.5 Credits

  

vi.            Total hours Spent: 75 hours

Lectures         

30 hrs
 

Seminars/Tutorials

20 hrs
 

Assignments

10 hrs
 

Independent Study

15 hrs
 

Practical         

0 hrs

Pre-requisite: None

    
     
  • Course Content

Critical Thinking skills: Analyzing, evaluating, and creating Listening and Speaking skills: Analyzing purposes and forms of presentations, features of effective oral presentations, developing active listening, listening to lectures and note taking, using argumentative language and logic to express opinions, making oral presentations and giving peer feedback Reading skills: Recognizing and examining different types of academic writing for their purposes and elements (i.e. research proposal, term papers, research report, project report, experiments, abstracts), recognizing affixes (prefixes, suffixes) which change word form, skimming and scanning through texts, using SQ4R strategy for retention, identifying and evaluating sources of information, reading extensively and intensively in appropriate contexts, interpreting components of essay questions Writing skills: Characteristics of effective academic writing (i.e. formal language, logical flow of ideas and sentences – simple, compound & complex), paragraph structure and organization in various patterns (i.e. cause effect, descriptive, narrative, argumentative), essay planning and writing in response to essay questions from students’ disciplines, referencing and citing sources in APA format (in-text citation and end-text citation), paraphrasing to avoid plagiarism, writing in academic forms (i.e. literature review, reference list, abstract, term paper), revising academic writing, argumentative language and logic to express opinions in writing  

  • Teaching and Learning Activities

Teaching methodology will include lectures, seminar presentations, tutorials, filed visits, and excursions, take home group and individual assignments, Independent reading assignments. 

  1. Assessment Methods

Assessment methods for this course will include assignments, essays, tests, quizzes, and the end-of-semester examinations. Coursework: 40% University examination: 60%

  1. Reading List

Sokal, R.R. and Rolf, J.F. (1995). Biometry. The principles and practice of Statistics, In Biological Research. 3rd Edition. WH Freeman and Company , New York. pp. 887 (ISBN 0-7167-24111)

Zar, J.H. (1984). Biostatistical analysis. 2nd Edition. Prentice-Hall International Inc.,Pp. 718 (ISBN 0-13-077595-9-01

Kothari, CR (1997). Research Methodology, methods and Techniques. 2ndEdition. Wishwa Prakashan

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